MILAN, Italy, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Eurand, a specialty pharmaceutical company, and the Controlled Release Society (CRS) announced the winners of the 2004 Eurand Award Program, which honors innovation in oral drug delivery. The winners presented their research at the 31st Annual CRS Meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Walter A. Shaw, Ph.D., President, Avanti Polar Lipids of Alabaster, AL was named the Eurand Award Grand Prize winner for the development of a high bioavailability lipid matrix, Lym-X-Sorb, formulation of the investigational anti-cancer drug Fenretinide.
Second Prize was awarded to Anthony D’Emanuele from the University of Manchester, U.K., for work on the use of dendrimer pro-drug conjugates to bypass efflux transporters, thereby increasing the absorption of drugs that are P-glycoprotein substrates.
In-Hyun Lee of the Dae Hwa Pharmaceutical Co., Seoul, Korea, was awarded an honorable mention for work describing the formulation of stable emulsion complexes of Paclitaxel for the oral delivery of anti-tumor therapy.
Leslie Benet from the University of California was given the Career Achievement Award for Outstanding Research in Oral Drug Delivery.
“For more than 30 years, Eurand has successfully developed and commercialized drug delivery technologies and products that enhance the safety, efficacy and convenience of medicines,” commented Gearoid Faherty, Chief Executive Officer of Eurand. “We are extremely proud of this program as it provides much needed funding, recognition and support to scientists working to advance drug delivery and improve patient’s lives.”
Grand Prize Winner
Dr. Shaw in collaboration with the Los Angeles Children’s hospital and Biomolecular Products, Byfield, MA developed a novel lipid-based drug-delivery vehicle, Lym-X-Sorb (LXS): an organized lipid matrix of lysophosphatidyl choline, monoglyceride and fatty acid. The drug is enveloped in the acyl- constituents of the LXS monomer backbone to facilitate absorption in the proximal intestine -- the system was used to formulate the investigational anti-cancer drug, Fenretinide. Dr. Shaw and the group demonstrated that the LXS/Fenretinide formulation, at only 20% of the dose present in the reference capsular formulation, achieved drug peak plasma concentrations that were equivalent to the reference -- an approximate 5 fold increase in bioavailability. Further investigation of LXS/Fenretinide is underway using a powdered formulation, with phase I trials planned in pediatric and adult sold tumor patients scheduled for 2004.
Dr. Shaw founded Avanti Polar Lipids Inc in 1969, prior to this he was director of the Clinical Research Center Laboratory at the Medical College of Virginia in 1969.
Second Place Winner
Dr. D’Emanuele developed starburst polyamidoamine dendrimers as conjugate moieties for existing drug substances, to enhance the transport of drugs that are substrates for P-glycoprotein efflux transporters. In cell-based models Dr. Emanuele was able to demonstrate up to 14 fold increases in transportation rates through cell models.
Dr. D’Emanuele is a senior lecturer in pharmaceutics at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Manchester. After graduating from the School Pharmacy, University of London in 1984, Dr. D’Emanuele undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Bath followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. D’Emanuele has been invited to give over 60 lectures, has received 5 awards, and is the author of over 120 publications. He was Chairman of the UK-Ireland Controlled Release Society from 1999 to 2001.
Honorable Mention
The Eurand Award Evaluation Committee also chose to award an Honorable Mention to Dr. In-Hyun Lee of the Dae Hwa Pharmaceutical Co., Seoul, Korea. Dr. Lee and his group produced a stable emulsion of paclitaxel using a mono- and tri-glyceride lipid system. When delivered orally to mice, a bioavailability of approximately 20% was recorded and the absorbed dose was effective in reducing tumor size and increasing survival in murine models.
In-Hyun Lee received his M.S. degree in Biochemistry under the supervisions of Dr. Seo Young Jeong at Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) and Dr. Jun Kim in Korea University. Since 2001, he has been working in Dae Hwa Pharmaceutical Co., Korea, as a research scientist. He is currently developing effective oral paclitaxel delivery systems, in collaboration with Dr. Hesson Chung in Biomedical Research Center at KIST.
Career Achievement Winner in Oral Drug Delivery
In addition to the research awards, the Eurand Award Evaluation Board honored Dr. Leslie Benet for his Career Achievement in Oral Drug Delivery.
Leslie Z. Benet, Ph.D. has been a Professor of the Department of Biopharmaceutical Sciences, University of California, San Francisco since 1969, he has also served as Department Chairman. Dr. Benet is a Director of Impax Laboratories and has been Chairman, President and/or Chief Executive Officer of AvMax Inc. and OxoN Medica Inc. since 1995 and 2000, respectively.
Dr. Benet received his A.B. (English), B.S. (Pharmacy), and M.S. from the University of Michigan, and his Ph.D. from the University of California. Dr. Benet has received five honorary doctorates: Uppsala University, Sweden (Pharm.D., 1987); Leiden University, The Netherlands (Ph.D., 1995); University of Illinois at Chicago (D.Sc., 1997); Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (D.Sc., 1997); and Long Island University (D.Sc., 1999).
Dr. Benet’s research interests, more than 450 publications, and ten patents are in the areas of pharmacokinetics, biopharmaceutics, drug delivery, and pharmacodynamics. In 1985, Dr. Benet served as President of the APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences. During 1986, Dr. Benet was a founder and first President of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS). In 1987, Dr. Benet was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Benet has received the highest scientific award of AAPS (1989 and 2000), Rho Chi (1990), American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (1991).
Dr. Benet delivered the keynote address at the Eurand Awards Special Session, a paper entitled “Enzyme Transport Interplay: Defining Its Effects on Oral Drug Bioavailability.”
“We are pleased to recognize the outstanding work of a true pioneer Dr. Benet’s intellect, ingenuity and scientific rigor have made immeasurable contributions to the field of oral drug delivery and had a major impact on the development of our industry,” Mr. Faherty continued.
Now in its fifth year, the Eurand Awards Program, which is sponsored by Eurand and held in conjunction with the Controlled Release Society, is regarded as a premier industry award and is designed to encourage, recognize and reward innovative developments in oral drug delivery. Over the past four years, the Eurand Award has been presented to the most innovative scientists in the field for their outstanding research efforts and for their work in advancing oral drug delivery.
The 2004 Eurand Award Evaluation Board consists of Committee Chair, Alexander (Sandy) Florence, President of the Controlled Release Society and Professor at University of London, Committee Members; Dr. Carla Caramella, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of Pavia, Italy; Professor Stanley R. Davis, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham, UK; Vladimir Torchilin, Ph.D., DSc, Professor and Dept. Chair, Dept. of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, Boston, MA.
Eurand is a specialty pharmaceutical company that develops enhanced pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical products based on its proprietary drug delivery technologies. The Company specializes in bioavailability enhancement of poorly soluble drugs utilizing its Biorise(R) platform, modified release and taste masking and is currently developing a pipeline of products based on its proprietary technologies. Eurand also works with many of the world’s leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to develop enhanced forms of their existing products and development compounds. Eurand’s headquarters are located in Milan, Italy while Eurand’s US operating offices are in Vandalia, OH. The Company has research, development and manufacturing facilities in Italy, the United States and manufacturing facilities in France.
Eurand
CONTACT: Gearoid Faherty, CEO of Eurand, (Italy) +39-02-954281,bizdev@eurand.com
Web site: http://www.eurand.com/
